Chapter 300: Guaranteed to Satisfy Him!

Chapter 300: Guaranteed to Satisfy Him!

Ding Ruilong was starting to see Lei Cheng in an entirely new light.

Not only because he did not know Lei Cheng well and had been fooled by nearly ten years of the man’s behavior.

But because this move of Lei Cheng’s…

was genuinely brilliant.

It might even settle everything in one blow.

For years Ding Ruilong had chipped away at Li Ruobing’s business, obstructing her from every angle. He had made countless arrangements and spent enormous effort, and still he had never managed to stop Huancai Fashion’s rise.

Li Ruobing truly was a business prodigy.

Lei Cheng’s method turned the usual playbook on its head.

A superstar endorsing Huancai Fashion’s new products was exactly what Li Ruobing wanted.

Fine.

Let her have it.

She wanted influence?

Give her influence.

Let Huancai Fashion grow bigger and stronger still.

And then—

suddenly, when she least expected it, deal it a fatal blow.

Let Huancai Fashion rise because of Tao Manying.

And fall because of Tao Manying.

The higher you stood, the harder you fell.

The more influential a company, the more devastating a scandal that struck at its foundations, and the faster its collapse—faster even than a small company’s.

And even if the scandal was cleared up eventually…

that would be later.

By then the wager’s settlement date would be long past.

It would no longer matter.

A scheme that deep, that vicious—Ding Ruilong had never thought of it.

Lei Cheng had.

Ding Ruilong even felt he had underestimated Lei Cheng, the Lei family’s failure, all this time.

What he did not know was that the vicious plan had not come from Lei Cheng at all.

Wu Chen had devised it.

Guaranteed to satisfy Ding Ruilong.

And Ding Ruilong would not be the only one satisfied.

Li Ruobing and Lei Cheng would be “satisfied” too.

For Li Ruobing:

Once Ding Ruilong had Lei Cheng’s promise and believed he held a decisive killing stroke, he would have no reason to keep making petty moves against her and Huancai Fashion over the next month or two.

There would be no need.

Li Ruobing would have a very comfortable stretch.

For Lei Cheng:

Once the agreement was made, Ding Ruilong would have to start working on Lei Cheng’s behalf and genuinely go after Lei You.

It amounted to hiring free labor to make trouble for Lei You.

And for the next month or two, Ding Ruilong and Lei Cheng would even enter a honeymoon period. Their personal relations would be excellent.

Until—

Ding Ruilong discovered that Lei Cheng had deceived him.

“You think it’ll work, Young Master Ding?” Lei Cheng asked, smiling when he saw Ding Ruilong smile.

“It’ll work. It’ll work extremely well.” Ding Ruilong nodded.

He truly was satisfied.

At the same time he understood what he took to be Lei Cheng’s thinking.

The two of them still lacked trust.

He assumed Lei Cheng feared he might not keep his promise, and so did not dare rashly offend the Li siblings.

So in effect both sides would be working at once.

Ding Ruilong would prepare to deal with Lei You.

Lei Cheng would prepare to go after Huancai Fashion.

When the time was right and both were ready, they could even move simultaneously.

“I do have one more question, though…” Ding Ruilong said. He paused and smiled. “Actually, it’s not really a question. It’s just…”

“What?” Lei Cheng asked.

“It’s just that I hear you’re very fond of Miss Tao Manying, Boss Lei. You’ve spent a great deal of money on her career over the years. A breach and a termination will hurt her in the end. It might even…”

He gestured with one hand and left it unfinished.

He had said enough.

He trusted Lei Cheng to understand.

“What I’m asking is this,” Ding Ruilong went on. “Can you really bring yourself to do it? And… will Miss Tao resent it and refuse to cooperate?”

He was weighing the chance that something might go wrong.

That was why he asked.

“You’re overthinking it, Young Master Ding,” Lei Cheng said directly. “Once we’ve finished off Huancai Fashion and I’ve taken back the family fortune, I’ll have Manying retire. We’ll get married. I’ll make her my wife.”

“Wow.” Even Ding Ruilong was surprised.

He had not expected Lei Cheng to feel that way about a star he had built with his own hands.

“Then let me congratulate you in advance, Boss Lei.” He grinned and raised his cup.

“Hahahaha! Same to you, same to you! And may you get everything you’re after, Young Master Ding!” Lei Cheng laughed loudly and raised his own.

The negotiation was over.

Settled.

That was the plan.

After the tea, Lei Cheng traded a few more empty words with Ding Ruilong and checked his watch again.

Ding Ruilong could tell he had somewhere to be.

“Boss Lei, if you’ve got business, go ahead. Don’t mind me. We’ve said about all there is to say. We’ll do it the way we agreed,” he offered.

“Sorry about this, Young Master Ding.” Lei Cheng glanced at his watch once more, then looked up. “I really do have something to take care of, and it’s nearly time. Looks like I can’t have dinner with you. Forgive me for being a poor host…”

Ding Ruilong waved a hand.

“Not at all. Go handle it, Boss Lei. We’ll have dinner another time. No rush.” He smiled.

“All right. Then we’ll leave it here for today…” Lei Cheng stood.

Ding Ruilong stood too.

They shook hands.

Fourth floor, the private room.

Wu Chen sat with his headphones on, smiling at the screen as he watched them shake hands and say their goodbyes, watched Ding Ruilong leave and Lei Cheng see him out…

It was over.

Wu Chen took off the headphones and stood.

Out of habit he straightened his suit, then slipped one hand into his pocket and walked to the window overlooking the street.

Soon he saw Lei Cheng personally escort Ding Ruilong out of the teahouse. Outside they shook hands once more.

Only after Ding Ruilong had gotten into his car did Lei Cheng go back inside.

His courtesy could not have been faulted.

It was close to five in the afternoon.

Wu Chen looked away, took out his phone, and checked the time.

Almost five.

He had met Wu Yurong a little after three, so nearly two hours had passed. She would probably be calling soon.

He wondered how badly those two hours had been eating at her.

By now she must feel as though a cat were clawing at her insides.

A minute later.

Click.

The door opened.

“Brother!” Lei Cheng called as he came in, waving the bodyguards out at the same time.

They filed from the room.

“Thanks for your hard work, Brother Lei.” Wu Chen turned with a smile and walked toward him.

“What are you saying? You and me, and you’re still being polite?” Lei Cheng said.

With the bodyguards gone, the two sat down to another private talk.

There was no need to go over what Lei Cheng and Ding Ruilong had discussed. Wu Chen had watched all of it.

What mattered now was the next step.

Namely—

how to make sure Lei You found out.

In fact it was simple.

Have Hu Xilin do it.

Lei Cheng could lay the whole thing out for Hu Xilin, then have Hu Xilin go to Lei You and say that Lei Cheng had tried to recruit him for something big.

That Lei Cheng had revealed he was joining forces with Ding Ruilong to kill Lei You.

And that, to win Hu Xilin over, Lei Cheng had even shown him clips of the video of his conversation with Ding Ruilong.

From where Lei You stood, Hu Xilin was closer to him, their friendship deeper.

He could not possibly know that Hu Xilin had already become a staunch supporter of Lei Cheng.

At the same time, Hu Xilin had always been on good terms with Lei Cheng and did a great deal of business with Hongfa Group.

So it made perfect sense for Lei Cheng to try to recruit him.

And to Lei You it would seem just as natural that Hu Xilin had come to warn him in secret.

Ring, ring…

A phone rang.

Lei Cheng’s.

He took it out, looked at the screen, and answered with a smile. “Darling, all done with work?”

Tao Manying.

Ring, ring…

Another phone.

Wu Chen’s this time.

He looked at the screen.

Wu Yurong.

Seeing that Wu Chen had a call as well, Lei Cheng simply got up and went out into the corridor so they would not disturb each other.

“Hello, Sister Rong.” Wu Chen answered with a smile.

“Where are you?” Wu Yurong’s voice was extremely gentle. “It’s been two hours. Are you done with your business?”

“Just about. Why—miss me?” Wu Chen laughed.

“Hmph. You’re awful. You did that on purpose, didn’t you?” She huffed, then slipped back into her sweet, soft tone. “You bad man. Dinner together? We really do need to talk, don’t we?”

“Sure. Dinner. I’ll bring a friend. Pick somewhere private—we’ve got business to discuss…” Wu Chen said, smiling.

He was going to take Lei Cheng to meet Wu Yurong.

Lei Cheng could formally enter the game.